The things you never stop working on (part three)

Hey this is my second post of the night!!! Good for me...
Finishes... the simple little exercise that can bring your score down in a hurry.  I will admit that training the "fiddly" stuff is not my favorite, so over the years I developed ways of teaching the left and right finishes that I find interesting.  For the left finish I like to see my dogs lift out of the front position and then use their rear end to complete the exercise.  I focus on the tidiness of the finish and the intensity of the eye contact between my dog and I.  One of the pickiest definitions is that the spine is paralel with the handler and the dog's front feet are not ahead of the handler's feet.  This is the definition I go with.  I use a my fronting chute for finishes.  I think it helps the dog to do the job all by himself and because a properly fitted chutes allows very little room for error the reinforcement on the exercise is high. 

Here is a list of things to cover in your training sessions: Keep note of which way he is most accurate in the different situations for use later in the ring, just in case you lose half a point on a front you can save yourself another half point deduction by using he most accurate finish.

• Finishes from not perfect fronts.  Position your dog so that he is off center.  Send him in either direction.  
• Finishes from a stand.  Place the dog in a stand about 1 foot from proper front position.  Practice sending the dog on a verbal or a signal in this situation.  Your goal is to find out if the dog understands his cue for finishes in different situations. 
• Right finishes from heel position.  Will the dog go all the way around you and return to heel position??
• Perpindicular set-ups.  Position yourself so that you are perpindicular to your dog (he would be staring at your left hip) Have him do a finishes from this position. 

Always ask yourself how many finishes you should be doing in a row.  It can be pretty dull from the dog's point of view.  Play in-between sets of finish work.  Reward random parts of the finish to keep his reaction prompt and his expression relaxed and interested in what you are doing.  Extra special reaction for a job well done never goes un-noticed by your dog.  Even for the most food driven dog, a regular "Good Boy" piece of food in the mouth doesn't hold a candle to a "WOW.. you are so smart!!!!" big smile on your face, cookie in the mouth reaction.